


Cute Soccer Calves

by MadameKate



Category: Love Simon (2018), Simonverse | Creekwood Series - Becky Albertalli
Genre: Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-02
Updated: 2019-03-02
Packaged: 2019-11-08 00:26:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,776
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17970956
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MadameKate/pseuds/MadameKate
Summary: Different snapshopts of Simon noticing Bram's legs





	Cute Soccer Calves

**Author's Note:**

> Almost canon-compliant – though a mix of SVTHSA and Love, Simon. I’m sure I’ve taken liberties with timeframes and orders of events. I’ve tried to use American English where possible to fit with the setting of the book, but some Australianisms might have slipped through.

Theatre rehearsals had been cancelled for the day, so Simon and Abby had decided to watch Nick at soccer practice. They walked over to the soccer fields, planning their inevitable trip to the Waffle House afterwards.

Simon was a bit distracted on the walk – he’d sent Blue an email that morning and he hated waiting for the reply, but the wifi signal at the school was notoriously bad. He sighed out loud after checking his email for the fifth time in the short walk.  ‘Si – what’s wrong? I know you’re worrying about something. I love you, you know – you can talk to me if you need to.’

Simon still hadn’t worked up the courage to tell any of his friends that he was gay, but he was working up to it. The emails from Blue were giving him courage and hope that everything would be ok. ‘Love you too Abs,’ he said. ‘There is something, but I’m not quite ready to talk though. Can we just go and watch Nick play soccer?’ ‘Of course, Simon,’ Abby said reassuringly.

They made it to the soccer fields and sat in the bleachers, Abby’s arms reassuringly around Simon’s shoulders. Simon stared out onto the field not knowing what the soccer team were actually doing. When it came to sports, Simon was as clueless as all his friends were about him being gay.

Simon watched Nick and the team run through their _drills?_ he guessed they were called... While not his type in real life, Simon definitely appreciated a nice set of shoulders on a guy – after watching Game of Thrones, he had often fantasized about the shoulders on Jason Momoa. How strong they were. How good they looked when they moved. How he would love to run his hands and mouth over them – pure filler for his fantasies. He definitely understood Blue’s obsession with Jon Snow, but if you’re going to fantasize about shoulders, you may as well go for one of the best.

But today, he found himself noticing the way the soccer team did those weird stepping things where they bring their knees up really high and all the burpees they were doing. Some of them had some really good legs Simon thought, watching as the muscles stretched and were pulled taut – watching as they got all hot and sweaty.

He definitely didn’t see Nick that way, but Cute Bram Greenfeld from their lunch table had some great leg muscles. Simon thought they were nearly enough to overtake Jason Momoa’s shoulders in his fantasies. Simon knew he should stop focussing on Bram’s legs before Abby noticed. Besides, he was falling pretty hard for Blue and it sort of felt like cheating on him to be checking out another guy’s legs. That didn’t stop him though, it’s ok to look as long as you don’t touch, right!?!

‘Earth to Simon.’ Simon turned around, almost startled. ‘Where were you Si, you were like a million miles away and missed me fangirling on our soccer team’. Simon gave a short laugh, ‘I didn’t realise you were such a soccer fan Abby.’

 

After soccer practice Nick walked over to them with Garrett and Bram in tow. ‘Hey guys, I didn’t know you were here,’ Nick said looking at Abby. ‘Well, theatre got cancelled so I decided to come and check out the form of our soccer players’.

Simon looked down at the ground because he could feel his cheeks getting warm and knew the blush was spreading down his face and underneath his hoody. Abby’s comment was a little too close to home for him, especially with sweaty Bram with the cute soccer calves standing right there. He hated how his blushes always showed all over when he was embarrassed. Simon couldn’t help but look over at Bram to see if he noticed. Bram was looking at the ground as well, for some reason looking a bit like how Simon felt just then. They looked up at the same time and shared a quirky smile as if they were in on the same joke.

‘So, we’re thinking WaHo in about 20 minutes, are you guys in?’ Abby said, inviting Bram and Garrett along. Garrett responded for both of them and said he’d drive Nick and Bram there so the others could pick up Leah on the way.

 

It was a perfectly normal Waffle House catch-up for them, Leah catching them up on the latest from the CreekSecrets Tumblr, the soccer players talking about their upcoming game, and Simon arguing passionately about the minutia of Harry Potter fandom – like, if it’s a high school, why weren’t there more teen pregnancies at Hogwarts. ‘I mean, how did they deal with STDs at Hogwarts anyway… magical HPV vaccines?’ It was perfectly normal, except today Simon was sitting next to Bram and the occasional moments when their legs accidentally touched under the table were nearly too much for Simon to handle after fantasizing about them earlier in the day. He could feel the muscles in Bram’s soccer thighs and it was a sweet form of torture for Simon.

 

Simon hadn’t had a chance to check his emails since Abby called him out on his sigh at soccer practice earlier in the day, so as soon as he escaped the regular family viewing of _the Bachelor_ , he ran upstairs to check his emails while eating Oreos.

Simon was relieved to see that Blue had emailed him. Blue was continuing their previous conversation but also mentioned that he’d had one of those moments where he got embarrassed and tongue-tied around one of the cute boys at school again, wishing he had the confidence to say something. Simon could just picture the scenario, thinking that it reminded him of how he felt today around Cute Bram – who was unfortunately, very definitely straight.

Simon responded to Blue’s emails and went to bed. He was smiling, thinking about his and Blue’s most recent email exchange, but as he was drifting off with a smile on his face, he couldn’t help but think about Cute Bram and his soccer thighs…

\------------------------------------------

Lunch at school had become one of Simon’s favourite times but also one of the hardest to get through. Nick had wanted to switch seats with him to sit closer to Abby. He had no problem with that, he didn’t really care where he sat. But he now sat next to Bram at lunch. His thoughts alternated between Bram and those legs only an inch or so away from his, and his Blue.

He wished he knew who Blue was. Perhaps if he knew who Blue was he could stop obsessing over very-definitely straight Bram’s legs. They were very distracting.

It was even worse when Bram spoke, ‘Simon. Hello. Can I have some fries?’

‘Yeah, sure,’ he said, pushing his plate towards Bram. It’s not as if he could eat any more either.

Bram knocked his leg against Simons and said ‘Thanks man. Coach was watching when I grabbed my lunch and I couldn’t grab any fries without having to do extra laps this afternoon.’

At the touch of Bram’s leg against his own, Simon felt warm and tingly, like he’d been given an electric shock – but in a good way. ‘Stop it Simon,’ he said to himself. ‘Remember, no straight guys.’

 

\------------------------------------------

‘How is it Gender Bender Day already? I mean it was literally just Halloween and now it’s Spirit Week,’ Simon muttered to himself. Simon hated Gender Bender day. Not because he had a problem with dressing up in women’s clothes. If he was straight, it wouldn’t be a problem. He could get up, put on a cheerleading outfit and walk around all day like it was nothing.

But this was Georgia. Once people found out he was gay, they would remember this and things would be that much worse. It would just add more homophobic bs fuel to the fire. ‘I guess I’ll just borrow some hair clips from Nora again’. School spirit and all that jazz.

He found Nora in the kitchen cooking up a storm as he always did most mornings. ‘What’s cooking?’

‘Corn and zucchini fritters with bacon and relish. They’ll be ready in about two minutes.’

‘Sounds great Nora… uhm, do you have any hair clips I can borrow for today?’

‘Of course. I’ll grab some as soon as these are cooked. What type do you want?’

‘There’s different types?’

‘Simon! At least pick a colour – I have black, green, purple, rainbow or silver glitter.’

‘Uhm, rainbow I guess?’ He figured if he had to make the token gesture for all that school spirit ra ra, he could at least get a bit of LGBTI positivity in there as well. He wondered what Blue would be wearing, whether he was going to be in one of the Cheerleading costumes all the jocks always seemed to wear, or whether he would go low-key as well.

While he was eating his breakfast, he wrote a quick email to Blue.

Dear Blue,

So, Gender Bender day. I’m going low-key in my dress-ups today. How on earth is a bunch of guys in skirts and dresses meant to encourage school spirit anyway. I know you won’t tell me, but I am curious. Are you going all out today, or keeping it low-key like me?

I mean, it’s not as if I’m not ‘comfortable in my masculinity’ or whatever. Being gay isn’t about being masculine. But this is Shady Creek. I know when I do come out, everyone would just remember that one time I wore a dress to school. Ignoring the fact that everyone wore a dress to school and the other 364 days of the year where I don’t wear a dress. I hope you are braver than me.

Whatever you decide, I hope you have a good day.

Love, Jacques.

‘Here’s the hairclips Si. Do you want me to put them in?’

‘Thanks,’ he nodded.

 

School that day was crazy. For some of the girls it wasn’t too different – I mean they already wore jeans and tops half the time anyway. But for the guys, it was definitely a mixed bag. Once again, a thousand cheerleading outfits had turned up for all the jocks to wear, the band was all wearing little black dresses, and the chess team had obviously gone thrift shopping because they were all wearing nighties that their grandmothers probably wore. Leah, of course, was dressed more feminine than any other day of the year.

So, AP English was first on the day’s timetable. Simon managed to get the lounge with Garrett and Nick. Then, Bram walked in just before the bell rang. All Simon could see was Bram’s soccer calves – all that long, toned leg. Bram should wear clothes that short all the time. It was just criminal that one person could have legs that good. Garrett called Bram over and made a space for him on the lounge. Right next to Simon. ‘Well, I guess I’m not learning anything today,’ Simon thought. And he didn’t. He had no thoughts but Bram’s legs.

 

‘Hi Si. How was school today?’

‘Good thanks, Mom. It’s Spirit Week and it was Gender Bender day today.’

‘How does this school still think it’s funny to force people into gender stereotypes and then laugh when people dare to switch them up and step outside the narrow stereotypical roles.’

‘Uhm, right Mom. Thanks for the therapy session. I’m going to go do my homework now.’

‘Ok. Nora’s cooking creamy lemon pasta with chicken for dinner. We’ll call when it’s ready.’

Simon grabbed some Oreos and went to his room to check his emails.

              Dear Jacques,

No – I won’t tell you what I wore, but I did end up going all out. I wanted low-key, maybe one of my Mom’s blazers or something. For me, today, not dressing up would have been more obvious and would have led to more comments.

I hate that we don’t even have the choice about how we participate in school spirit activities. Both of us getting forced into doing the opposite of what we wanted just because of society’s expectations. It’s not something I’ve thought about too much, but it’s just another way we have to hide our real selves.

Despite that, I did have a good day. I even managed to speak a few sentences to one of the cute guys today rather than freezing up like I normally do. So I’ll think of today as a win.

Love, Blue.

 

Simon didn’t like the thought of Blue thinking someone else at school as cute. He knew they didn’t know the other’s identity, but it felt like they had something real growing between them and he didn’t want Blue liking someone else.

Dear Blue,

My Mom expressed similar views on fitting into the stereotypes. Too much therapizing for me today.

But, Blue. Talking to cute guys. I hope you aren’t forgetting about me?

Love, Jacques.

 

Dear Jacques,

I’m not forgetting about you. You’re nearly all I think about. In my quieter moments, I do wonder whether you are one of the cute guys. Then I wonder what you will think of me.

I hope you can still forgive me for not agreeing to meet just yet. I’m getting there Jacques. I’m still not quite ready. I’m not sure what’s holding me back. But it is this huge thing, and once we cross the line, there’s no going back. No putting the gay back in the closet, so to speak.

Love, Blue.

 

Simon was again a little disappointed that Blue didn’t want to meet him, but he understood. Coming out is something that people should get to do in their own time, in their own way. Simon knew he was on borrowed time. Monkey’s Asshole’s douchery was getting douchier every day.

 

\------------------------------------------

‘Are you disappointed it’s me?’ Bram with the cute soccer calves asked.

‘No,’ Simon said with a smile.

They sat next to each other on the carnival ride, legs just touching. But it was heaven to Simon. Those soccer legs were right there. Simon was ecstatic – after weeks of hell, his friends were now talking to him again, and more importantly, his Blue was sitting here next to him. His Blue was Cute Bram with the soccer calves. It was all too much – but all too wonderful.

God, his heart was hurting with happiness. He couldn’t wait to experience everything with his Blue… no, his Bram!

Simon knew that him and Bram had spoken, but he couldn’t remember a word of it. He knew him and Bram were all in – boyfriends! Simon had a boyfriend! That’s right, he had a boyfriend!

He did remember their first kiss though, gentle, a bit awkward and hesitant, turning slightly more passionate the longer they kissed. Simon knew this was the boy he wanted to kiss for the rest of his days. Not to mention those legs.

 

\------------------------------------------

They were sitting on their new lounge, in their new house, their new home – ‘Bram, I’m so happy that we made it through college still together and that we’re now here, living together. Though, if we ever move houses again, let’s get movers in. I don’t know about you, but my legs are killing me.’

‘My legs are fine Simon, did you want to feel them to see?’

‘Well, that’s an offer I can’t resist.’ Simon reached out a hand and started touching Bram’s legs, a sensual exploration that probably affected Simon more than it did Bram. ‘Yeah, they are definitely fine!’ The leg touching turned into a heated make-out session.

Which Bram abruptly ended the moment Simon started taking things to the next level. ‘I’m sorry Si, I just need a minute first.’ Bram got up, adjusted his pants, then walked to their bedroom. After a moment he came out asking ‘Si, can you shut your eyes for a moment… Please.’ Simon was unsure what was going on, but he trusted Bram implicitly. ‘Ok, open them now.’

Simon opened his eyes to see Bram kneeling on the rug in front of him. ‘Simon, love of my life. Tonight we are starting our lives together in this house and I could think of no better way to start it than by asking you to marry me. To be mine forever. Si, will you marry me?’

Simon wasn’t expecting this, but he couldn’t think of anything more perfect. And, he’d found a new favourite view of Bram’s legs! ‘Of course! I love you and I want to spend the rest of my life loving you… Now get back up on the lounge so we can continue making out to celebrate our engagement.’


End file.
